The Federal High Court in Abuja has rejected a purported resignation letter allegedly written by former African Democratic Congress Deputy National Chairman, Nafiu Bala, ruling that the document was not authentic.
Justice Peter Lifu gave the ruling in his judgment delivered on Thursday, November 5, after examining the disputed letter and comparing its signature with those on Bala’s sworn statements.
The judgment, obtained on Wednesday, showed that the judge found material differences between the signatures, concluding that the letter could not be relied upon as evidence that Bala voluntarily resigned from his position.
Justice Lifu explained that the certification of a document did not automatically establish the authenticity of a disputed signature.
He said certification could confirm that a copy was a true reproduction of a document held by an authorised institution but could not independently prove that the person named in it actually signed it.
“The fact that a document is certified, however, does not, by that fact alone, settle a genuine dispute as to whether the person named in it, actually signed it.
“Certification may establish the status of the copy as a true copy of the document in the custody of the certifying authority; it does not necessarily establish the authenticity of the disputed signature.
“The court must therefore consider the document alongside the other relevant evidence,” he held.
The judge added that courts could compare disputed signatures with admitted or established specimens without necessarily requiring expert evidence in every case.
He said he carefully examined the signature on the disputed document, tendered as Exhibit ADC-1, alongside those on Bala’s sworn statements and found significant differences.
“I am not satisfied that Exhibit ADC-1 represents the genuine act of the plaintiff.
“I therefore reject it as reliable proof that the plaintiff voluntarily resigned from his position as Deputy National Chairman of the 1st defendant (ADC),” the judge ruled.
The decision forms part of the ongoing legal battle over the leadership of the ADC, which also resulted in the nullification of the emergence of the faction led by former Senate President, David Mark.
The dispute has also thrown the party’s preparations for the 2027 general election into uncertainty, particularly following the nullification of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s presidential nomination.
Bala approached the court in September 2025, challenging the legitimacy of the leadership arrangement that produced Mark as national chairman and Rauf Aregbesola as national secretary.
The Mark-led faction had maintained that Bala resigned from his position on May 17, 2025, adding that his resignation was subsequently communicated to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
However, Bala repeatedly denied authoring the letter, describing it as forged.
In April 2026, he publicly disowned the document, insisting that neither the letter nor the signature on it came from him.
“I wish to state that this paper did not come from me, and that is not my signature on it. The signature you see there was forged,” he said.
The court’s rejection of the resignation letter weakened a major argument by the Mark-led faction that Bala had voluntarily relinquished his position before the party’s leadership transition.
Justice Lifu also held that the emergence of Mark and Aregbesola at the party’s 99th National Executive Committee meeting on July 27, 2025, had not been shown to comply with the mandatory requirement of democratic election under Section 82(3) of the Electoral Act 2022.
The judge said the party could not rely on the powers of its National Executive Committee or INEC’s subsequent recognition of the leadership arrangement as a substitute for compliance with the law.
The Mark-led faction has rejected the judgment and indicated its intention to challenge the decision on appeal.
The ruling has further complicated the ADC’s leadership crisis and raised fresh questions about the party’s readiness for the 2027 general election.